Hearty Vegan Brunch and Burgers & Beers Benefit

Who: VN Associate Editor Jennifer Chen
What: A Hearty Vegan Brunch with VN staff and a Burgers & Beers Benefit
Where: San Francisco and Berkeley, CA
When: Sunday, October 23, 2011
Why: A glorious day of eating awesome vegan food

The Scoop: When the cookbook Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster Appetites by Joni Marie Newman & Celine Steen arrived at the VNHQ for review, we were floored by the hunger-inducing food. Tater Tot Surprise, Cinnamon Swirl Bread, and Coconut Crème Brûlée Baked Oatmeal were just a few recipes we were drooling over. So VN Assistant Editor Anna Peraino and I organized a staff-wide potluck based on our favorite brunch dishes from the cookbook. We, after all, have monster appetites. Here is our hearty menu:

VN Hearty Vegan Brunch Menu

Banana Split Waffles

Tater Tot Surprise

Coconut Crème Brûlée Baked Oatmeal

Cappuccino Muffins

Atella Rolls

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches*

Morning Mimosas*

*not featured in the cookbook

My brunch plate from top:

Tater Tot Surprise, Grilled Cheese, Banana Split Waffles, Atella Roll,

Coconut Crème Brûlée Baked Oatmeal, Cappuccino Muffin (center).

It was a beautiful and sunny day in Noe Valley where Anna, our host, lives. We piled our plates high with all the goodies we had prepared. Associate Publisher Colleen Holland made the Banana Split Waffles fresh and piping hot from the waffle iron while my husband, Brendan Hay, made his signature Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, the only recipe not from the cookbook, but a VN staff favorite. I savored every bite and when my very full plate (see above) was empty, I was ready for a hearty nap on Anna's couch. We were impressed with every single dish, and even made a non-vegan a believer in the power of vegan grilled cheese sandwiches (score!).

Joni Sweet and Lyndsay Orwig enjoying brunch.

After the brunch, I squeezed in a dog date at the Presidio with Art Director Sutton Long and her pup, Chloe, and my pup, Buddy, to walk off the billions of calories I had consumed. Believe it or not, then I headed to Pyramid Brewery in Berkeley to partake of vegan burgers and beers. Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary hosted a fundraiser at the brewery and I love any event where I can eat and support animals in need. Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary cares for abused farm and domestic animals and assists local humane societies and rescue groups.

What's better than vegan burgers and beers? Nothing.

It was a great event, and Brendan and I shared a brew while chatting about all the amazing vegan food we ate.

Vegan Birthday Beers & Eats Tour

Who: VN Associate Editor Jennifer Chen

What: Brewery tours and vegan eats

Where: Bear Republic Brewery, Healdsburg, Calif.; Pyramid Brewery, Berkeley, Calif.; Sushirrito, San Francisco

When: February 18 & 21, 2011

Why: Celebrating my husband's birthday

The Scoop: I plan elaborate birthdays for my husband, Brendan Hay, because I love surprising him. This year, I picked out several breweries in the area for a beer tour since he loves beer. When I saw a blog post on Vegansaurus about Sushirrito, I knew this was a perfect addition to our eating and drinking tour. Sushi the size of a burrito? No brainer. Using the handy guide on Barnivore, I found local breweries Bear Republic and Pyramid both serve vegan-friendly beer. Why isn't some beer vegan? (Read more on Barnivore.) Our first stop was Bear Republic in the lovely town of Healdsburg. The brewery was packed but we were seated quickly. We ordered a flight of their speciality beers (some of which were the El Oso, Heritage Ale, and the Carburetor). My personal favorite was the Cher Ami, a Belgian-style ale, which was light and fruity. A few days later, we spent President's Day standing in line at Sushirrito, waiting for our monster-sized sushi rolls. I got the Buddha Boy Roll, which was packed with avocado, tofu, eggplant, daikon, shittake mushrooms, crumbled rice chips, and cabbage. It was amazing. And for $8, my belly was Buddha-sized stuffed.

The awesome Buddha Boy Roll

Later, we hopped on BART and headed to Pyramid Brewery. We sampled Pyramid's flight of five beers—Haywire, Apricot Ale, Thunderhead, Live Wire, and Outburst. My favorite was the Apricot Ale because of its refreshing fruit flavor. We noshed on french fries and I ordered a $5 Portobello burger during their happy-hour special.

A nice flight of Pyramid brews

We were too busy playing our Trivial Pursuit card game (it's addictive, never leave home without it) to take advantage of the brewery's free daily tour, but we'll be back next time for the Tuesday trivia nights. It's good that we're chatting with Kris Carr tonight at 6pm PST/9pm PST on our very first Twitter VegNews Chat because after this beer tour weekend, I need some serious green juice!